Barrhead church’s bid for new hall

Eddie Harbinson

St Andrew’s Church in Barrhead is hoping to strike a deal with East Renfrewshire Council for the plot adjacent to Craighead Street.

The council’s cabinet members will be asked to rubber-stamp the sale of the site this week.

And that will mean negotiators can finalise the deal, which will see the church pay £4,500.

A report by the council’s director of environment, Andrew Cahill, said: “St Andrew’s Church has approached the council seeking to acquire an area of council-owned land.

“The church want the land in order to assist with its development of a church hall proposed to be built within the existing church grounds. The hall is intended for use by the church and the wider community.

“Following consultation with the housing service, as holder of the land, it has no objection to its sale which would reduce the area of amenity ground it maintains.

“In the absence of a requirement to retain the ground or any foreseeable alternative development potential, negotiations were progressed with the church for its proposed sale.

“The proposed sale of the ground will result in a modest capital receipt and will reduce the council’s ground maintenance liability.”

In June, the church was granted conditional planning approval for the hall.

On its website, the church said: “The new building will have a main hall, a kitchen and toilets, including a disabled toilet.

“It will also have a separate entrance so that it can be used independently of the main church building.

“It will, of course, be wheelchair-friendly. It will be used mainly by the youth organisations and the ground at the rear of the hall will be landscaped to provide an area suitable for outdoor activity.